Learner stories

Korero with the Porirua City Council

The Porirua City Council (PCC) is keen to engage all members of its communities in its 30-year Growth Strategy Plan, which works alongside the $1.6 billion development that the Jacinda Ardern announced recently. Over the last couple of weeks Porirua City Councils Steve Flude and Mia Matheson have been working with English Language Partners (ELP) Porirua Manager, Jacqs, to organise a workshop where learners could learn about the strategy and give their thoughts and ideas to the team.

Approximately 70 students from across the Middle East, South America, South and South-East Asia, and the Pacific attended the workshop, which started with a morning tea provided by PCC. Teaching staff from ELP Porirua translated, to ensure lower level English learners understood, as Nic Etheridge and Bryan Patchett, from PCC, outlined the strategy and its key points. ELP Porirua learners were then invited to look at the posters of the strategy and provide their thoughts and feedback, whilst several PCC staff talked with the new Kiwis and got to know more of their settlement experiences.

This was an exceptional community engagement workshop, which enabled learners to practice their language skills and have input into the future of their community. Overall, this inclusiveness of new Kiwis in the process has been a very rich piece of community participation for the learners and helps them know that this is their community and they are valued members of the community.